Parish's Wolfberry
Parish's Desert-Thorn
Lycium parishii
This plant was found in full bloom at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Pima Co., Arizona, USA on 21 March 2010.
RANGE: Rocky slopes and washes in southwestern Arizona and southeastern
California. Also in Sonora, Mexico and southern Nevada, USA
FLOWERS: Light to darker purple/lavender. Tubular flowers with five
points and broadly flared open. Flowers and foliage are similar to
L. fremontii but notice that in Parish's the lobes of the calyx (green
bracts below flower) are rather long and slender whereas Fremont's are short
and triangular. Flowers in spring mostly, occasionally other seasons.
SHRUB: A woody shrub occasionally up to 2
meters tall. Intricately branched and seasonally leafy.
ARMED. This shrub has thorns, but they are not particularly sharp.
LEAVES: Leaves are spatulate (spoon-shaped) and rather thick and fleshy;
their surface is covered with sticky gland-hairs. The leaves often appear
fascicled.
FRUIT: Bright red juicy berries with a number of seeds are edible and
sweet.